ISS crew locks down inside Russian sector after cooling system glitch

The threat of a possible toxic leak in the US sector of the ISS forced the American astronauts on board to isolate their module and move to the Russian sector. The hatch was reopened hours later after no leak was detected, NASA reported.

The decision to reopen
the hatch was done after receiving data readings from a variety
of sensors aboard the International Space Station (ISS) and
carefully studying flight controllers throughout the day, all of
which indicated “no leakage of ammonia on the
station.”

NASA is continuing to analyze flight controller data in an effort
to determine what triggered the alarm in the first place.

The incident, which occurred at about 09:00 GMT, prompted the
six-member crew to put on emergency masks and rush to the Russian
side of the orbital station to avoid potential poisoning from
ammonia, which is used in the cooling and heating systems of the
ISS.

"At this time the team does not believe we leaked
ammonia," ISS program manager Mike Suffredini said.
"There was never any risk to the crew," he added.

“The safety of the crew has been secured by prompt joint
action by the US and Russian crewmembers, as well as by mission
control staff in Moscow and Houston,” said the head of the
Russian Mission Control Center, Maksim Matyushin.

The current crew of the International Space Station consists of
six researchers representing two expeditions. Expedition 42
arrived on the ISS in September and consists of US astronaut
Commander Barry Wilmore and Russian cosmonaut engineers Aleksandr
Samokutyaev and Elena Serova – the first Russian female cosmonaut
in 17 years.